Pre- or Post-Tribulation?
by Steven Keeler
THE RAPTURE
THERE IS NO PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE TAUGHT ANYWHERE IN THE BIBLE.
The doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture was invented by J.N. Darby in 1827 (according to Dallas Theological Seminary, the modern day promoter of the theory).
NO ONE TAUGHT THAT THE RAPTURE WOULD COME BEFORE THE TRIBULATION ANYWHERE IN HISTORY BEFORE THAT.
THE BIBLE CLEARLY TEACHES THAT THE RAPTURE (SNATCHING AWAY OF THE SAINTS) WILL OCCUR AFTER THE TRIBULATION (THE 3 ½ YEAR REIGN OF THE ANTICHRIST):
JESUS TAUGHT POST-TRIBULATION RAPTURE
In Matthew 24 (see also Mark 13 and Luke 21) JESUS CHRIST taught about end times prophecy. In Matthew 24:29-31 JESUS said,
“IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a sound of a great trumpet, AND THEY SHALL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT [rapture] from the four winds, from the one end of heaven to the other. (Mark 13:27 says, “from the uttermost part of earth to the uttermost part of heaven”)”
THE ONLY GATHERING THE SAINTS IN ALL OF MATTHEW 24 IS AFTER THE TRIBULATION!
PAUL TAUGHT POST-TRIBULATION RAPTURE
The Apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:1—3.
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by OUR GATHERING TOGETHER UNTO HIM [rapture], That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for THAT DAY SHALL NOT COME EXCEPT THERE COME A FALLING AWAY FIRST, and that man of sin be revealed [the Antichrist], the son of perdition.”
THE APOSTLE PAUL CLEARLY TAUGHT THAT THE RAPTURE WILL NOT COME UNTIL AFTER THE REIGN OF THE ANTICHRIST (TRIBULATION)!
JOHN TAUGHT POST-TRIBULATION RAPTURE
In Revelation the Apostle John describes the Tribulation period and the reign of the Antichrist (see chapters 6 through 18), and nowhere does he mention a secret rapture of believers all over the world being sucked out of their socks. The first mention of a gathering of all the believers in the book of Revelation is AFTER the tribulation, and just BEFORE Christ returns on a white horse (Revelation 19:1-16). In Revelation 16:15—DURING the Tribulation—the coming “as a thief” is still in the FUTURE.
Believers need to stop promoting the FALSE HOPE of the pre-tribulation rapture. This is a popular idea that is generating millions of dollars in book sales, but it is not BIBLICAL, and it is a recent invention in these last days.
LET THE BIBLE BE YOUR GUIDE.
